ONTARIO AND QUEBEC VICTORIOUS IN TEAM RELAY AT CANADA GAMES
Relay races featured on second day of Mountain Bike competitions at Canada Games
(Ottawa, ON – August 5, 2013) The Mountain bike athletes took to the course at Mont Bellevue again on Monday to race province against province in the MTB Team Relay. The sun came out for the first full day of the games and welcomed smiles to the faces of the athletes. The mountain bike team relay is comprised of a men’s and women’s relay with each province fielding a team of three riders, each rider completes on lap of the course.
The 5.3km course used for the team relay was a slightly modified version of the course used for the cross country race on Saturday, and featured many of the same technical features as the XCO course.
Six teams took the start to battle it out for the top province. The girls from Quebec set the tone early, attacking hard on the first climb and getting a gap through the first half of the lap, with Ontario hot on their heels.
An untimely flat by Andreane Lanthier-Nadeau (Quebec) allowed Laura Bietola (Ontario) to tag off to Ontario’s second rider Cayley Books with a big gap to second place Manitoba, with their first rider Karlee Gendron handing off to second rider Anna Schappert. Third after lap 1 was Alberta with Leah Harvey handing off to Sarah Poidevin.
Heading out on the final lap, it was Haley Smith of Ontario heading out with a lead of over two minutes on Manitoba, sending Gendron out as the anchor. Quebec’s Laurence Harvey flew through her lap making up two places to tag off to Quebec’s anchor, Frederique Trudel, 25 seconds down on Manitoba. Ontario’s Smith rode a strong final leg to earn Ontario their first Cycling gold of the Games winning by over 3 minutes. Manitoba took the sprint for second and Quebec finishing third.
Team Ontario Apprentice Coach Jenny Trew commented: “I’m really proud of the women and how each of them rode the relay. They were focused and inspired to win today as a team and it showed.”
The men’s relay saw 11 teams take the start with high expectations being place on the team from Québec, following their 1-2-4 finish in the cross country race on the weekend. Quebec’s Leandre Bouchard made the home province intentions clear right from the start, attacking up the first hill, and opening a gap over Ontario’s Mitch Bailey. Bouchard handed off to Jeremy Martin with a 25 second lead over Ontario’s Steven Noble, while BC came in third with Evan Guthrie tagging off to Rhys Verner.
On the second lap, Martin continued to build Québec’s lead handing off to their anchor Antoine Caron with a 45-second lead. Ontario’s Evan McNeely was next out chasing hard with the hope of closing. BC’s Verner tagged off to Quinn Moberg with what looked like a comfortable gap over Nova Scotia in fourth 1 minute 25 seconds back. Caron maintained Quebec’s lead over Ontario securing Québec’s third Gold medal for these games. Ontario’s McNeely crossed the line in second after chasing hard all race. In the end BC’s Mobeg was just able to hold off a hard charging Andrew L’Esperance who closed the gap down to 13 sec in the last lap.
Team Quebec Coach Donald Whelman said after the race: “Everything went as planned, the guys wanted it really bad! They have been talking about it for a while and really executed.” Speaking of both Quebec Teams, he said “I’m really proud of everybody’s effort today, they realized that this can be a great showcase for their sport, and all are really looking forward to the Sprint race on Wednesday.”
The Mountain Bike athletes will take to the start line one more day this week with the Mountain Bike Sprint race, also known as the Eliminator, on Wednesday August 7. The race will feature riders in heats, as they move towards the finals with the top riders moving on to the next round and the other riders being eliminated. The sprint will see be contested on a short 800m circuit, featuring a mix of open ski trail, tight single track, jumps and berms, ending with a drop off right before the finish.
MOUNTAIN BIKE – CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM RELAY- CANADA GAMES
Men: 1. Équipe Québec – Team Quebec (QC), 53:56.590; 2. Équipe Ontario – Team Ontario (ON), 54:49.900; 3. Équipe Colombie-Britannique – Team British Columbia (BC), 58:01.940; 4. Équipe Nouvelle-Écosse – Team Nova Scotia (NS), 58:14.270; 5. Équipe Nouveau-Brunswick – Team New Brunswick (NB), 1:07:34.270
Women: 1. Équipe Ontario – Team Ontario (ON), 1:07:49.230; 2. Équipe Manitoba – Team Manitoba (MB), 1:11:16.490; 3. Équipe Québec – Team Quebec (QC), 1:11:17.620; 4. Équipe Nouvelle-Écosse – Team Nova Scotia (NS), 1:15:19.730; 5. Équipe Alberta – Team Alberta (AB), 1:20:43.100
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